Depth selective Mossbauer spectroscopy: Analysis and simulation of 6.4 keV and 14.4 keV spectra obtained from rocks at Gusev Crater, Mars, and layered laboratory samples

Abstract

The miniaturized Mössbauer spectrometer (MIMOS) II Mössbauer spectrometers on the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) simultaneously obtained 6.4 keV and 14.4 keV Mössbauer spectra from rock and soil targets. Because photons with lower energy have a shallower penetration depth, 6.4 keV spectra contain more mineralogical information about the near-surface region of a sample than do 14.4 keV spectra. The influence of surface layers of varying composition and thickness on Mössbauer spectra was investigated by Monte Carlo simulation and by measurement using a copy of the MER MIMOS II instrument and samples with one or two layers of known thicknesses. Thin sections of minerals or metallic Fe foil on top of a thick mineral sample were used to produce samples with thin layers of known thickness on a thick substrate. Monte Carlo simulation of MER spectra obtained on the rock Mazatzal, which displays a coating on a basaltic substrate, and other Adirondack Class rocks results in a calculated thickness of 10 micrometer for the Mazatzal surface layer. The 6.4 keV spectra obtained on Adirondack Class rocks, on laboratory samples, and in Monte Carlo calculations show an apparent olivine enrichment which is not related to any observable surface layer.